Polishing buff wheel



Feb. 9, 1954 Filed Dec. 30, 1950 R. E. BUSCH ET AL 2,668,398

POLISHING BUFF' WHEEL 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3nventors Feb. 9, 1954 R. E. BuscH ET AL 2,668,398

' POLISHING BUFF WHEEL Filed Dec. 50, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Elli 1%.?

3nventow Patented Feb. 9, 1 954 POLISHING BUFF WHEEL Rudolph E. Busch, Lincoln Park, and Emerson Lloyd Kurtzwarth, Detroit, Mich., assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a

corporation of Delaware Application December 30, 1950, Serial No. 203,745

Our invention relates to a means for salvaging buffing pads which have been worn to such an extent that they can no longer be used to good advantage.

The primary object of our invention is to provide a heavy-duty buffing wheel of the composite type to be used principally for industrial purposes, said wheel being capable of efiectively utilizing wornout bufiing pads.

Another object of our invention is to provide a means for making heavy-duty bufiing wheels of the composite type which may efficiently utilize either new or waste material.

An additional object of our invention is to provide a means for making heavy-duty buffing wheels of the composite type from pads having a shape suitable for the most economical use of the whole material.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following specification, the drawings relating thereto, and from the claims hereinafter set forth.

Anyone engaged in the art of bufling is acquainted with the fact that there are rather definite maximum and minimum limits on the peripheral speeds at which a buffing wheel may be operated. It is the present practice to mount the bufling wheel on a shaft that rotates at a fixed speed. The speed used gives the maximum permissible peripheral speed when the pad is new.

As the diameter of the wheel decreases as a result of wear, the peripheral speed will also decrease until it is below the desired minimum. When this occurs the used wheel must be replaced. Our invention enables these worn pads to be effectively put back in operation.

In theaccompanying drawings we have shown for the purpose of illustration one embodiment which our invention may take in practice.

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a worn bufi'ing pad as it would appear after it has been cut a substantially elliptical shape suitable for assembling into a relatively stiif bufling wheel.

Figure 2 is a view of one of the supporting rings as it would appear after a few of the pads shown in Figure 1 have been prepared and placed on the ring and also showing how these pads overlap.

Figure 2a shows a suggested alternative for giving a softer wheel which consists of cutting the pads in an hour glass shape in order to prevent the pads overlapping.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken at line 3-3 in Figure 2 in order to illustrate the manner of 7 Claims. (01. 51-493) placing the buifing pads on the supporting rings.

Figure 4 is a view of a fully assembled wheel with a small portion of the assembly being broken away to facilitate a clearer understanding of the assembled wheel.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 5-5 in Figure 4 to provide an internal view of the fully assembled wheel and thus show a preferred method of assembling the invention.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken at line B6 in Figure 4 and showing how the pads are inter-meshed in the region of the clamp plates of the wheel assembly.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, the broken line I indicates a large cloth bufiing disc before it has been Worn by use. As this buffing disc is used it will gradually be consumed by wear. When these discs are worn to the size of buifing pad 2 their peripheral speed has decreased to such an extent they are no longer suitable for bufling and in the past they have generally been discarded. These pads can now be made serviceable by the following procedure. A worn-out buffing pad is first cut to a shape suitable for folding it over a supporting ring, In Fig. 1, a pad is shown cut to a substantially oval outline to afford a reworked disc 3. The periphery on diametrically opposite sides is cut away as on line 4 on a radius equal to the outer radius of the fully assembled Wheel as indicated by R in Figures 1 and 2. This cut should be made to give the least amount of wastage, but it should still give the finished wheel a smooth and continuous buffing surface. The hole 5, which is the original center hole, is left unchanged. Radial slots 6 are cut inwardly from diametrically opposite sides so as to end short of the medial hole 5. This will leave short centrally disposed webs which join the pair of flaps aiforded by the remaining material of disc 3. The slots 6 are to allow for easy bending of the pads along line I, and may be of substantial width as shown in Figure 1 or merely the thickness of a shearing blade cut. The length X of the connecting webs should be short enough so the prepared pads will fit the metal retainer ring 8 without buckling. However, enough material must be left to provide sufiicient strength to prevent the buffing pad tearing in two from centrifugal force. After the required number of buiiing pads 3 have been prepared they ar individually folded along line I and then placed on the retainer ring 8 so that the flaps are together and extend radially outward.. When the pads are cut to an oval shape they should overlap and fit together to give a circumferentially continuous but irregular buffing surface 4. The overlapping and intermeshing of the pads will tend to stiffen the finished bumng wheel. One convenient way of overlapping the buffing pads is to have the end of one flap fit between the ends of the adjacent pair of flaps while the end of the other flap fits outside of the flaps. This is the method shown, but there are numerous ways of accomplishing the same end. This will cause the pads to be offset and lie in two planes as shown in Figure 6. If the material being polished requires a more flexible or pliable wheel, the pads can be out similar to pads 3a. By doing this the pads will not overlap which will allow them to have motion relative to each other.

It has been found by experience to be preferable to control the width of the finished wheel by varying the number of rings, although if it is thought desirable the width may be modified by altering th number of pads per ring. After enough rings have been equipped with the pads they are placed on a series of locating pins 8. These pins are secured at one end to a clamping plate It to project normal thereto. The pins are spaced on a common radius that will put the outside surfaces of the several pins 9 in contact with the inside surface of retainer rings 5. A second end clamp plate 5 l is provided with holes to receive the ends of the locating pins 9. There should be enough pins to make the whole structure rigid and to secure the pads from sliding. In the assembly shown the locating pins contact the retaining ring where the original center holes 5 of the buffing sections appear. This will positively prevent the pads from sliding either radially or tangentially. After the wheel has been built up to the desired thickness by applying the proper number of pad and ring assemblies on the locating pins 9, the end clamp plate I l is put in place. This is then placed on a drive shaft 62 and washer l3 and nut 54 are put in place and tightened. By tightening nut 14 the whole assembly is compressed and rigidly mounted. At times it may be found more convenient to have the wheels assembled and stored before they are used. If this condition exists it is necessary to have some means of holding the buffing wheel together. This could be done by having pins 9 threaded so that a nut can be screwed onto each pin thus compressing the whole assembly. Another alternative would be to have a sleeve with one end firmly attached to plate it so that it would fit around drive shaft l2. The other end would be threaded and extend through plate N. Then instead of using the washer I3 as shown, a nut would be used. Thus after the wheel was assembled the nut would be tightened, thus holding the wheel together.

The outside diameters of the retainer rings 8 and the clamping discs in and H are preferably identical as this will give the necessary strength yet allow maximum use of the pads. When this condition is met the pads may be worn all the way to the rings, thus almost totally consuming the fabric.

The invention is not necessarily limited to the exact arrangement shown. As an illustration of one variation that is possible, a cylinder of the proper size may be substituted for the pin arrangement.

While the foregoing specification has stressed the use of waste material, it will be understood that new material can be used. When the circular discs, as used in the present buffing pads,

are cut out, approximately one-fourth of the material is scrap because of the space between the circles. However, if a figure such as a square or octagon is used the wastage is the amount of material destroyed by cutting. Therefore, as the shape of pad 3 approaches that of a square or octagon the wastage will be reduced. This invention will therefore give more pads per yard of new material than the old system and also will allow for more productive use of the cut pads as they can be used without the usual wasted center portion of the conventional bumng sections.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

We claim:

1. A buffing pad adapted to comprise one of a series employed on buffing wheels, said pad comprising a pair of substantially semicircular portions said portions being partially separated by a pair of substantially.diametrically aligned open ended slots extending radially inwardly between said semicircular portions from the periphery of said pad, and a web portion formed between said slots and connecting said semicircular portions intermediate the ends thereof.

2. A bumng pad adapted to comprise one of a series employed on buffing wheels, said pad comprising a sheet of fabric of substantially elliptical form having a pair of open inwardly extending slots provided along the major axis thereof forming a pair of substantially semi-elliptical portions and a web connecting said semi-elliptical portions.

3. A rotatable buffing device, comprising, at least one ring, a shaft, a pair of discs mounted for rotation with said shaft and movable axially thereof, a series of fabric bufiing pads mounted on said ring, each of said pads comprising, a pair of spaced substantially semi-elliptical portions, a Web connecting said semi-elliptical portions together along one edge thereof, said web being positioned intermediate the ends of said portions and having a length less than the length of said edges, said bufing pads being folded over an associated ring about said webs so that semielliptical portions thereof lie in abutting relation and extend outwardly from said ring, and means for actuating said discs toward each other into clamping engagement with said ring and buffing pads.

4. A rotatable buffmg device, comprising, a series of substantially flat rings disposed in side by side relation, a rotatable shaft, a pair of clamping discs mounted for rotation with said shaft, at least one of said discs being movable axially of said shaft, a series of fabric buffing pads mounted on each of said rings, each of said pads comprising a pair of substantially semi elliptical portions said portions being partially separated by a pair of substantially diametrically aligned open ended ring receiving slots extending radially inwardly between said semi-elliptical portions from the periphery of said pad, and a web connecting said semi-elliptical portions, said buffing pads being folded over an associated ring about said webs in such a manner that said semielliptical portions thereof lie in abutting relation and extend outwardly of said rings, means for supporting said rings and pads on said discs, and means for drawing said discs into clamping relation with said rings and pads.

5. A bufing pad adapted to comprise one of a series employed on a bufing wheel, said pad comprising a sheet of fabric having a pair of flaps having the opposite edges thereof spaced from each other by a pair of diametrically aligned indentations in the sides of said pads, said pad having a web integral with said flaps and joining the adjacent edges of said flaps together, said Web having a length substantially less than the width of said flaps, the opposite edges of each of said flaps having surfaces thereon shaped to form a portion of the buffing surface of said bufiing wheel.

6. A rotatable buffing device comprising a series of substantially flat rings disposed in side by side relation, a rotatable shaft, a pair of clamping discs mounted for rotation with said shaft, at least one of said discs being movable axially of said shaft, a series of fabric bufiing pads mounted on each of said rings, each of said pads comprising a pair of flaps having the opposite edges thereof spaced from each other by a pair of aligned indentations in the sides of each of said pads, a web integral with each of said flaps joining the adjacent edges thereof, said web having a length substantially less than the width of said flaps, each of said bufling pads being folded along said webs and being posi tioned over an associated ring in such a manner that said flaps lie in side by side relation and extend radially outwardly from said rings, means for supporting said rings and pads on said discs,

and means for drawing said discs into clamping e relation with said rings and pads.

7. A rotating device having a buiiing surface thereon comprising a series of substantially flat rings disposed in side by side relation, a rotatable shaft, a pair of clamping discs mounted for rotation with said shaft, at least one of said discs being movable axially on said shaft, a series of fabric bufling pads mounted on each of said rings, each of said pads comprising a sheet of fabric having a pair of flaps with the opposite edges thereof separated by a pair of diametrically, aligned indentations extending inwardly from the edges of said pad, the inner ends of said flaps being connected together by means of a web having a length substantially less than the width of said flaps, said opposite edges of each of said flaps having a surface thereon adapted to form a portion of said buffing surface, said buifing pads being folded along said web and being positioned over an associated ring in such a manner that said flaps will lie in side by side relation and extend outwardly from said rings, means for supporting said rings and pads on said discs, means for drawing said discs into clamping relation with said rings and pads.

RUDOLPH E. BUSCH. EMERSON LLOYD KURTZWARTH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 93,723 Kunkel Aug. 17, 1869 27%,456 Binns Mar. 27, 1883 537,687 Keighley Apr. 16, 1895 1,922,108 Myers et a1 Aug. 15, 1933 2,099,777 Thomas Nov. 23, 1937 2,226,624 MacFarland Dec. 31, 1940 2,225,625 MaeFarland Dec. 31, 1940 2,415,947 Hendriekson Feb. 18, 1947 235513-98 Seelenfreund Nov. 30, 1948 

